Hi,
Firstly it is important to say 'What a great site you have developed' and 'Well done to all who have made it possible'. I came across you whilst searching the net for something about 'Pillau Rice and what a find. I've been experimenting for 30 years+, bought my first cast iron Karahi in Leicester when I was a student and still use it almost weekly. Don't be fooled by the Bhuna -Boy name I'm 50
I've tried most things. Roasted and ground spices to make various massalas and pastes. Stopped that and moved onto commercial pastes. Tried every ready sauce they sell in the supermarkets(incidentally to my taste Pataks are the best). Discovered Pat Chapman books quite a few years ago and tried his base with various successes AND THEN! found Khris Dhillon and the fantastic recipes on here. What a revelation. The Dhansak and Jalfrezi recipes are the closest I've ever got to the BIR taste you are all seeking,
A couple of observations on that point:
Several of you are talking about reclaiming oil for 'the taste'. I am not convinced by this. My local take away do not fry the base at any stage . They use a sack of onions in a large pan+carrot and 'spices' and boil/simmer until the onions disintegrate.They then use a drill with a blade attachment to blend it This is kept hot all evening. What they do not sell is added to and boiled the next day. I think this length of cooking/keeping hot is a key factor. I have never seen them reclaim oil at the final cooking stage which they do almost in front of you as you wait. We never do this at home do we. We cook what we want to eat. The saying that a good chef never lets the curry pot get empty is about right.

Secondly, with all bases their job is simply to be an agent for carrying the spices and providing texture. I do not believe they should have a prominent taste of their own. Hence the simpler the better.(My next batch will be the Darth one )
Anyway I'm rambling. Thanks again for a great site and a great read.

Go for it m8 you wont be disappointed, its a very good base & will make all sorts of Curries.

.....DARTHPHALL.....

Welcome aboard Bhuna-Boy!

I think your spot on with the gravy, simple is better.  You then add fresh garlic, tom puree and spice etc.. to enhance the flavours already there and give the curry a fresh, just cooked taste.  The final curry to me is were the magic happens, happy currying 

Welcome to the site BB,

Jump in and get cracking and let us all know how you get on. And I agree Patak's make the best pastes ( Madras is best ) but I can't say the same for ready made sauces.

Enjoy your curry making

Ray

Quote from: Curry King on January 10, 2006, 11:06 PM
...with the gravy, simple is better.  You then add fresh garlic, tom puree and spice etc.. to enhance the flavours already there and give the curry a fresh, just cooked taste.  The final curry to me is were the magic happens, happy currying 

I agree with this, too. I'm sure the skill is in the mix of spices added to the final curries. The base sauce is best left bland to allow it to be used for almost any dish, without everything tasting the same or too hot. Everything you read about Indian cooking suggest that the skills/secrets are in the precise mixes/blends of spices used - some handed down over generations, or mixed in secret at home by the head chef, if some stories are to be believed. The vast number of permutations and combinations of spices which are possible, gives a mind-boggling number of choices for the spices, which is why we may be 95% there (to the BIR taste) but not 100% for every dish. I recently listed a few dozen options for the way fenugreek alone could be used. Any spice can be used whole, ground, plain or roasted, added at the start of cooking, in the middle, or at the end (like garam masala). All this, for dozens of spices, gives more combinations than would face someone trying to break into a safe. It's so disappointing when fraudulent authors purport/promise to deliver recipes which work, but in reality they don't.

Regards
George